With rapid development of digital printing technology such as high-speed, inkjet web press printing, traditional printing papers face great challenges when used as the inkjet print media. In a typical inkjet printing system, ink droplets are ejected from a nozzle at high speed towards a print medium, e.g. paper, to produce an image on the medium. The inkjet ink usually contains a colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and a large amount of solvent. The solvent, or carrier liquid, typically is made up of water, or an organic solvent such as a monohydric alcohol, or mixtures thereof. In addition to good image quality and low cost, print media today are generally expected to be able to dry quickly and to avoid image feathering and image strike-through, especially when a sheet is printed on both sides.
The image quality which results from inkjet printing, including ink optical density (OD), color gamut, and the ink drying time, greatly depends on the interaction of the ink and the paper, and especially on the ink absorption capability of the paper. The ability of the paper to absorb the aqueous solvents in the ink and the speed at which it absorbs the solvents are major considerations in the manufacturing of media for receiving inkjet inks.